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^^ So I am not the only one that noticed the car looked lower in the back than the front - I thought I was going crazy.
Part of it is the offset of the OEM wheels in the front. The front stock wheels have such horrible offset they are sunk deep into the wheel well. I bet the drop in the front is more obvious if the front wheels were more flush with the fender.
Last edited by ScytheDC; Jul 20, 2021 at 05:30 AM.
Thanks for all the help with my car guys. So I have swapped out the lower control arm bushings and put in rsr down springs. Im sure it will drop a little more in the coming weeks as the springs settle. Now on to the next mods lol. Would like to do a tune and probably some exhaust. I have a duck bill spoiler I need to put on also.
did the same exact upgrade ... Downs and RR-Racing Ultimate LCA's( not just bushings) ..... was a revelation in driving feel!
Part of it is the offset of the OEM wheels in the front. The front stock wheels have such horrible offset they are sunk deep into the wheel well. I bet the drop in the front is more obvious if the front wheels were more flush with the fender.
could it be because stock fronts are 40 series and rear is 35 series for tires
ScytheDC is right in that the offset is the reason for giving it that illusion. The closer the wheel/tire is to flush with the fender the smaller the wheel gap appears to be.
Your car is not actually higher in the front, it just appears that way because the tire is further from the reference point (the fender)
Last edited by whoismiked; Jul 20, 2021 at 11:45 AM.
ScytheDC is right in that the offset is the reason for giving it that illusion. The closer the wheel/tire is to flush with the fender the smaller the wheel gap appears to be.
Your car is not actually higher in the front, it just appears that way because the tire is further from the reference point (the fender)
Interesting, I do have spacers, the max the car can fit on the front 25mm, and you're right, it does look a bit lower but still looks lower in the back. I think Ark Springs have a more balanced drop. I also saw someone do RSR down front only and that also looked balanced with rear OEM springs
Interesting, I do have spacers, the max the car can fit on the front 25mm, and you're right, it does look a bit lower but still looks lower in the back. I think Ark Springs have a more balanced drop. I also saw someone do RSR down front only and that also looked balanced with rear OEM springs
Humm, I didn't actually measure before and after, but RSR states it is between a 1.2 and 1.4" drop in the front and between 1.0 and 1.2 drop in the rear.
Also Rob posted right after he got it lowered ( I think?) and it can take up to two weeks to fully settle, so It will likely lower even more, especially the front with the weight of the engine.
I don't think my car looks uneven at all. I do know the amount of fingers I can stick between the front and rear is pretty much the same, so my drop is pretty even.
The one thing I can say, well at least where I live and all the steep driveways and speed bumps everywhere, I would not want my front any lower as I have to finesse it into many places to not scrape as it is lol
Last edited by whoismiked; Jul 21, 2021 at 10:14 AM.
Humm, I didn't actually measure before and after, but RSR states it is between a 1.2 and 1.4" drop in the front and between 1.0 and 1.2 drop in the rear.
Also Rob posted right after he got it lowered ( I think?) and it can take up to two weeks to fully settle, so It will likely lower even more, especially the front with the weight of the engine.
I don't think my car looks uneven at all, but maybe I'm just not noticing it and maybe it has to do with me running a squared setup and running 255/35/18 on all four corners (meatier sidewall on front compared to OEM, but still same total height between the two).
I do know the amount of fingers I can stick between the front and rear is pretty much the same, so maybe the car naturally has a rear squat and it is more noticeable when lowered?
The one thing I can say, well at least where I live and all the steep driveways and speed bumps everywhere, I would not want my front any lower as I have to finesse it into many places to not scrape as it is lol
i will tak a picture later today the springs should have settled by now and we can see if it has changed
I also saw someone do RSR down front only and that also looked balanced with rear OEM springs
Do you have a link to the picture you're referring to, I'm curious to see. Because unless he was running some bigger wheel / tire setup I don't see how this would look good (I'm thinking, without even seeing it yet, that he might be on 19's?)
Because one of the best things about lowering (aesthetics-wise) is reducing the wheel gap. I actually have an old pic of my rear before I lowered it, and I would not want this wheel gap on the rear
So If I went RSR on front and OEM on rear, this is what my rear would look like
Ewwwwww
Edit: @swaangin I also just noticed your car is a AWD model. I know the AWD version of the RSR drop the car less than the RWD version. The spring rates between AWD and RWD are different as well. Also I think AWD cars have a different weight and weight distribution than the RWD versions, so that's likely playing a role in your look.
I am no expert on this stuff, just speaking from my experience and my car is even, and I think robs is as well, it's just the inset of his fronts giving the illusion of a bigger gap on top of them being freshly installed in his pic and not fully settled in, I bet if he were to measure from the top of his tire to the fender it would be the same or close to the same between front and rear. I know mine is.
Last edited by whoismiked; Jul 21, 2021 at 10:40 AM.
I'd love to lower my wife's IS 350 F Sport, but it's her DD and she's not nearly as into cars as I am... I'd hate to ruin an already awesome-riding vehicle for her.
I put the F Sport lowering springs on my car, and the ride felt the same. The rear did drop more than the front. I also put on new wheels that were wider than stock. 18x8.5 front +35 and 18x9.5 rear +38.
Do you have a link to the picture you're referring to, I'm curious to see. Because unless he was running some bigger wheel / tire setup I don't see how this would look good (I'm thinking, without even seeing it yet, that he might be on 19's?)
Because one of the best things about lowering (aesthetics-wise) is reducing the wheel gap. I actually have an old pic of my rear before I lowered it, and I would not want this wheel gap on the rear
So If I went RSR on front and OEM on rear, this is what my rear would look like
Ewwwwww
Edit: @swaangin I also just noticed your car is a AWD model. I know the AWD version of the RSR drop the car less than the RWD version. The spring rates between AWD and RWD are different as well. Also I think AWD cars have a different weight and weight distribution than the RWD versions, so that's likely playing a role in your look.
I am no expert on this stuff, just speaking from my experience and my car is even, and I think robs is as well, it's just the inset of his fronts giving the illusion of a bigger gap on top of them being freshly installed in his pic and not fully settled in, I bet if he were to measure from the top of his tire to the fender it would be the same or close to the same between front and rear. I know mine is.
This is a current pic, does it look even ? To me is looks even but wheel gap on front is more then rear
This is a current pic, does it look even ? To me is looks even but wheel gap on front is more then rear
That looks good and even to me, and I see your front looks a bit lower than it did in your first pic now the the springs have settled. Your tire gap in the front appears to be slightly bigger than the rear, but not by much, but the car as a whole looks even imo. I think the front tires being sunk in and further away from the fenders make the front gap appear bigger than it really is. I wouldn't worry rob, car looks great to me.
Honestly, the car as a whole looks slightly lower in the front (and inline with RSR claims if their drop being .2" lower in the front. If we ignore the wheel gap and look at the bottom of your side skirt directly behind your front wheel and compare it to the side skirt directly in front of the rear wheel, the distance from that to the ground looks even if not slightly lower in front.
Last edited by whoismiked; Jul 22, 2021 at 07:00 AM.
That looks good and even to me, and I see your front looks a bit lower than it did in your first pic now the the springs have settled. Your tire gap in the front appears to be slightly bigger than the rear, but not by much, but the car as a whole looks even imo. I think the front tires being sunk in and further away from the fenders make the front gap appear bigger than it really is. I wouldn't worry rob, car looks great to me.
Honestly, the car as a whole looks slightly lower in the front (and inline with RSR claims if their drop being .2" lower in the front. If we ignore the wheel gap and look at the bottom of your side skirt directly behind your front wheel and compare it to the side skirt directly in front of the rear wheel, the distance from that to the ground looks even if not slightly lower in front.
im happy with it, now I want to get a cat back exhaust with quad tips. What should I look at ? Im in Canada
Do you have a link to the picture you're referring to, I'm curious to see. Because unless he was running some bigger wheel / tire setup I don't see how this would look good (I'm thinking, without even seeing it yet, that he might be on 19's?)
Because one of the best things about lowering (aesthetics-wise) is reducing the wheel gap. I actually have an old pic of my rear before I lowered it, and I would not want this wheel gap on the rear
So If I went RSR on front and OEM on rear, this is what my rear would look like
Ewwwwww
Edit: @swaangin I also just noticed your car is a AWD model. I know the AWD version of the RSR drop the car less than the RWD version. The spring rates between AWD and RWD are different as well. Also I think AWD cars have a different weight and weight distribution than the RWD versions, so that's likely playing a role in your look.
I am no expert on this stuff, just speaking from my experience and my car is even, and I think robs is as well, it's just the inset of his fronts giving the illusion of a bigger gap on top of them being freshly installed in his pic and not fully settled in, I bet if he were to measure from the top of his tire to the fender it would be the same or close to the same between front and rear. I know mine is.
His car is in this post, he is running aftermarket rims, AWD, RSR down in front only, looks perfect to me honestly
& you're 100% right about scraping, my car scrapes significantly more on driveways so I can tell that it's lowered versus when I was stock, so any lower may be more problematic as you mentioned
